SOS SOS --- / ... / --- First Wireless Operator Jack Phillips of the Marconi Company, the world's largest wireless company, for the first time in history taps out a new distress signal which had just been adopted at an international convention because it would be easier for amateurs to use and to pick up. Watching is Captain Edward J. Smith and Second Wireless Operator Harold Bride who had said: "Send SOS. It's the new call, and it may be your last time to send it." The time is 12:45 AM. The date is Sunday, April 15, 1912. The location is an ice field in the North Atlantic Ocean 800 miles east of New York where R.M.S.Titanic has just struck an 100 foot high iceberg and is foundering.
For the nearly 85 years since the sinking of Titanic, the actions of Captain Smith, Director Bruce Ismay of the White Star Line, lookout Frederick Fleet, and other crew members and passengers have been widely discussed and debated in newspapers, books, magazines, television documentaries, movies, Congressional hearings, a British inquiry, the Internet, and so on. The publication of A Night to Remember by Walter Lord in 1955 and the movie based on the book revived interest in the 1950's. The discovery of the final resting place of Titanic by Robert Ballard and a joint French/American expedition in September 1985 was an international sensation and added much more information to the documentary record. Director James Cameron's Titanic brought Titanic fever to yet another generation.
The story of Titanic is drama. The story of Titanic is mystery. But most of all the story of Titanic is history. Students typically see history as the study of "what happened way back then" and "just give me the facts, m'am". Robert Darnton, professor of history at Princeton University, states that "students arrive in class with the illusion that we've got history pretty much under control. It's in books they think: hard facts bound between hard cover"(1). That "what really happened" can be furiously debated, both at the time of the event and years later, is often unrecognized by students.
Today in the United States there is a tremendous interest in history. Not only professional historians and academics but also millions of Americans search archives both dusty and digital for family genealogical history; participate in Civil War reenactments; who collect memorabilia of all kinds; visit national, state and local historical sites and events; and regularly view the History Channel. Current events from the impeachment trial of President Clinton to the release of the Spike Lee movie Summer of Sam trigger an interest in history.
The purpose of the unit "From Dusty to Digital: Using Primary Sources in the Information Age - Researching Titanic" is to make students aware that real historical understanding requires them to engage in "historical thinking: to raise questions and to marshal evidence in support of their answers; to go beyond the facts presented in their textbooks and examine the historical record for themselves; to consult documents, journals, diaries, artifacts, historic sites, and other evidence from the past, and to do so imaginatively -- taking into account the historical context in which these records were created and comparing the multiple points of view of those on the scene at the time" (2). This evidence of the past is found primary sources.
This unit, "From Dusty to Digital: Using Primary Sources in the Information Age - Researching Titanic", will introduce students to primary sources: what they are, why they are important, how to identify them, how to access them, and how to evaluate them. Because learning should not take place in isolation, the context for this unit is the sinking of Titanic in April 1912 and the role that wireless telegraphy played in that event. Students will be introduced to the inventor of wireless telegraphy, Guglielmo Marconi, and learn about the wireless operators on board Titanic as they received ice warnings from other ships and later sent out distress signals.
It is important to note that, although the context of this introduction to primary sources is wireless telegraphy and Titanic, any another rich historical topic could also be used. The lessons in this unit have been designed so that they can be adapted to be used with any historical content.
The essay portion of this unit is organized according to the outline below:
I. Primary sources
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A. What are they?
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B. Why are they important?
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C. What should teachers think about when using primary sources with students?
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D. How can students identify primary sources?
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E. How can students access primary sources - both dusty and digital?
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F. How can students analyze primary sources (CARS)
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II. Wireless telegraphy
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A. Electromagnetic or Radio Waves
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B. Guglielmo Marconi and the Invention of Wireless Telegraphy
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C. Maritime Use of Wireless Telegraphy
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D. Titanic and Wireless Telegraphy
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E. A Timeline of Wireless Interactions on Titanic
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F. Questions about Titanic's Wireless Communication
Primary Sources
Although textbooks, trade books, newspapers, web pages, television shows, and other media include primary source information - photographs, excerpts from diaries, statistics, historical maps, and documents of all kinds, a typical student does not have a good understanding of what a primary source is and how it is different from a secondary source. (The following can be used as a handout.)
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